I've only recently heard of the "Streisand Effect" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect), but since hearing about it, it's come up a number of times.
The effect, named after Babs, is when she got all pissed off when a photographer was taking aerial views of the California coastline (I think for some coffee table type book). She got all pissed that it was an invasion of privacy, took him to court, etc. The end result, of course, is that the pictures of her house got spread all over the internet and news, and way more people saw them than would have if she hadn't made such a big fuss.
In general terms, making a big stink and trying to censor something can frequently have the exact opposite effect, especially on the Internet, where data can be copied and persisted extremely easily.
The latest instance of this happened recently, when the Google "Street View" van drove through the village of Broughton (never heard of it? Well, now you have. And that's my point). A cranky old guy saw the van, rallied his neighbors, and they physically blocked the road to make the van go away. They were concerned that because of recent burglaries, and that Broughton is a relatively affluent area, the Street View would invite more criminals.
Too late, dude. Too late. It's all over the news. By making such a stink, he has put his small village on the map (pun intended). Millions of people who've never heard of the place, or cared, now are focusing attention on it.
The Streisand Effect is a pretty cool phenomenon. Keep your ears open, and I'll bet you'll hear more instances of it soon.
The effect, named after Babs, is when she got all pissed off when a photographer was taking aerial views of the California coastline (I think for some coffee table type book). She got all pissed that it was an invasion of privacy, took him to court, etc. The end result, of course, is that the pictures of her house got spread all over the internet and news, and way more people saw them than would have if she hadn't made such a big fuss.
In general terms, making a big stink and trying to censor something can frequently have the exact opposite effect, especially on the Internet, where data can be copied and persisted extremely easily.
The latest instance of this happened recently, when the Google "Street View" van drove through the village of Broughton (never heard of it? Well, now you have. And that's my point). A cranky old guy saw the van, rallied his neighbors, and they physically blocked the road to make the van go away. They were concerned that because of recent burglaries, and that Broughton is a relatively affluent area, the Street View would invite more criminals.
Too late, dude. Too late. It's all over the news. By making such a stink, he has put his small village on the map (pun intended). Millions of people who've never heard of the place, or cared, now are focusing attention on it.
The Streisand Effect is a pretty cool phenomenon. Keep your ears open, and I'll bet you'll hear more instances of it soon.
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